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1/72 f-16 mlu

On my way back from Lackland AFB I made it a point to stop in Pensacola at the only family owned hobby shop within 200 miles of my home.

Was very disappointed. Owner had a bad attitude. Store was unorganized. Prices were through the roof.

But I bit the bullet. Decided that as a modeler we need to support our LHSs and bought a few things. For one thing its one of the few places that carry EZ Line.

This is an example. On line this model is $19.99 If it was all I bought from my favorite on-line store they would charge around $7.00 shipping for a total of $26.99 But that shipping cost stays the same no matter how much I buy. The LHS charged me $34.00 plus tax for the kit.

That tail looks elaborate. Is there a decal for that? Tell you what if you paint that using an airbrush then you might be just the guy to do some pinstriping on a car of mine... insert smilie here since one can't even do it the old keyboard way

The decals are by Daco. And its where the plane building instructions and the decals don't work. The Drop tank was a single decal. But by the instructions I had already glued it to the pylon. So the decal had to be cut into 4 pieces. Each pylon had 2 decals. One per side Still need to add the 31 Squadron decasl. Thats 8 decals per tank assembly. Before you get to the data decals.

And would it kill them to break some of the large decals down? One decal to cover the whole wing. Its like putting up wallpaper. Fighting to get wrinkles and creases out.

Or at least make separate decals for the gear doors? I had to stick them in place quickly.

Wow! That's a load of decals. You're a better man than I am. The bigger the decal the more intimidated I am by them.

Having a terrific full-line hobby shop here in Louisville is a real bonus. They're all gone back in Philly. The last one just bit the dust this Fall. The one here, Scale Reproductions, Inc. is one of the finest hobby shops I've ever seen in any generation. Brian Bunger, the proprietor, is a terrific model builder himself and belongs to the local IPMS club. They have the most fully stock plastic department I've ever seen anywhere. Brian hired his friend Marty to manage the plastics and paint dept. If the model is listed in the "new" column in Fine Scale Modeler, it's in Brian's store. There's one long row just for aircraft, another for armor and a third for cars, trucks, ships and odds and ends. There's a full row and a half for paints with fully stocked Model Master, Vallejo, Tamiya and True Color. A half of a row covers brass, Plastruct, and Evergreen stock.

I'm going to take some pictures of the plastics Aisles (notice plural) just to emphasize the point. Besides being fully stocked, there are sufficient staff in trains, RC and plastics to give a customer very good attention. They feature n and HO in the train department with a smattering of O. There's another very well equipped train store a mile from my house, Roundhouse Trains, that the O, S, and HO scales covered. This was a big plus for me moving to Louisville. We moved have moved anyway, but WOW, having stores to support my habit is terrific.

While I do buy stuff on line when it's something that difficult to get, I buy as much as I can from SRI. I will even order through them. They get stuff from Walther's and Stevens International. I get stuff at a discount and don't pay shipping and I keep my LHS in business. Considering the constant traffic in the store, I think their business is doing well and will remain there for some time to come.